This invention relates to an aquatic animal egg collector used for aquatic animals, such as, tropical fish, freshwater animals, saltwater animals, marine life, or aquacultured animals, to improve collection and removal of ova.
Worldwide, the aquarium products industry has grown in value in recent years to become an important component of international commerce. Like other industries involving the sale of live plants and animals, more restrictions are being placed on the collection of wild stock, and more emphasis being placed on the culture of stock already held in captivity.
Approximately 2,000 species of ornamental aquatic plants and animals are traded worldwide, 80% of which could be captive-bred. In 1995, it was estimated that the retail value for the industry worldwide was between 4 and 15 billion dollars, including all ornamental fish equipment, supplies and accessories. The number of tropical fish hobbyists worldwide can be counted in the millions.
The development of a viable tropical ornamental fish industry in the United States requires the development of techniques to breed a wide variety of tropical fish. Aquaculturists, employing a variety of livebearer traps and management techniques to separate adults and fry, have perfected methods to raise large quantities of livebearers. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of egg layers, and more specifically, egg-scattering tropical fish. The obvious differences between the two groups, dictates that entirely different methodologies be developed to breed these fish. Traditionally, breeders use masses of natural or artificial plants, and/or spawning grids made of net like material to protect newly laid eggs. These techniques work well, but they have their limitations.
Present day breeding procedures for aquacultured animals used on fish farms and similar facilities commonly suffer from problems and disadvantages. They require intensive use of skilled labor, large space requirements and the use of time consuming techniques and procedures that result in low yields of offspring and a limitation on rearing certain species of animals.
Most culture facilities use similar methods to spawn the broodstock. The broodstock animals are commonly held in holding tanks of approximately 20 to 30 gallon capacity. Female broodstock have individual ovulation cycles, so it is necessary to determine which females are ready to spawn. This decision is made from the appearance of the female and it is an educated guess when the female is ready to spawn. This is both time consuming and requires a highly skilled technician to make an accurate assessment from his knowledge of the various species of fish. The broodstock animal is examined by the technician and the ones ready to spawn are removed from the holding tank. The selected broodstock are placed in a temporary container until transferred again to each spawning tank. The volume of these tanks will vary depending on the size of the aquatic animal.
Each spawning tank must be checked two or three times a day to see if spawning has begun. As soon as spawning is completed, carnivorous animals must be removed from the spawning tank to prevent cannibalism. The animals are again transferred to a temporary holding container and then back into its holding tank. The broodstock animals are handled at least four times during each breeding period.
After the eggs are spawned, they lie on the bottom of the tank and must be removed with a siphon hose or by pouring the tank water through a screen. These methods can damage the fragile eggs and reduce the number of viable offspring. Additionally, each tank must be handled. This becomes very labor intensive even with a small number of broodstock animals.
There are many disadvantages associated with the standard methods of spawning aquatic animals. There is great inefficiency with these methods because animals may be selected for spawning that are not ready to spawn, and conversely animals that are not selected may spawn in the holding tank and thus wasting the eggs.
The male of some species must be stimulated by the female before it is able to spawn. The selection of unresponsive or infertile males for spawning will result in the wasting of any spawned eggs. To prevent the loss of eggs, it is a common practice to place 2 or more males in a tank with a single female. Any male combined with a female is wasted for the entire period except for the short time when the female spawns. This practice is a waste of broodstock, time and space.
The bloodstock are usually not fed during the induction of spawning, since any uneaten food and fecal material will be a source for bacterial growth. However, the lack of food makes the broodstock animals hungry, which increases the possibly of the eggs being eaten before they can be collected.
Another disadvantage is the mortality associated with frequent handling of the broodstock animals. These animals are the most valuable individuals in a culture operation and their loss can cause major economic and business problems.
Another drawback with the current spawning methods is the need for many highly skilled technicians to handle the hatchery operation. The increased operating costs associated with paying higher wages for trained personnel and needing more employees to handle the labor-intensive procedures can become a major operating cost. These costs must be recovered by increasing the price for the product. If the skill level and number of employees needed to run the hatchery operation can be reduced, then these savings can be passed along to the customer in reduced prices.
There are many devices in the market designed to help culturists spawn livebearing aquatic animals; however, there are no comparable devices to spawn egg-scattering aquatic animals. The only items available are spawning slates/cones, and artificial spawning grass and mats to receive the eggs of substratum spawners.
The Aquatic Animal Egg Collection Apparatus will help the ornamental aquaculture industry expand and develop by providing ornamental fish culturists with an alternative way to produce egg laying tropical fishes. This is a critical segment of the industry that is deficient now.
To overcome the current disadvantages, an egg collection apparatus and method of using the apparatus has been developed to allow the broodstock animals to remain undisturbed in their holding tanks. A natural social arrangement between the males and females allows the maximum spawning of fertilized eggs and prevents the cannibalism of the eggs without having to remove the broodstock from the tank.